


Salute

by upset_elcor



Category: Red vs. Blue
Genre: Betrayal, F/M, Felix is a horndog, Isaac's backstory, Past shipping with others, Slow build to an actual relationship, Some Fluff, but Rebecca is too, but quick into feelings, he's so full of himself and she's full of him ;), isaac doesn't know how to compliment girls, kill me, only himself, smut. lots of it., there's like.. abuse and shit, this relationship really is unhealthy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-10
Updated: 2019-03-12
Packaged: 2019-06-08 11:35:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 10,568
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15242517
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/upset_elcor/pseuds/upset_elcor
Summary: Years after Project Freelancer was declared over, the stragglers have landed on Chorus. Rebecca wasn't truly aware of the whereabouts of the two freelancers the Project chewed up and spat out into the Red and Blue feud, until she met with the leaders of the New Republic. In the New Republic was the furious space pirate, Issac "Felix" Gates, who she would love to punch the teeth out of.





	1. Chapter 1

"How did I get here?"

No answer. Rebecca kicked the gray heap next to her and stood up, walking to the front of the Pelican.

"What's our ETA?"

"Three hours, forty two minutes and twe-"

"Yeah yeah, I got it. I don't need details, okay?" She snapped, but sighed. He really had changed her, and some of it wasn't for the best.

"I'm sorry, Zeta."

"It's okay, Becca. It's just nice to have you back. The Meta wasn't exactly nice to us."

"I know. I'm sorry. You will eventually have to link up with Epsilon. You know that right?"

"I don't want to."

"I know. Once I can figure that asshole out, maybe we'll all go back, and you and I can stay friends. How does that sound?"

They said AI were assigned by personality. Rebecca had been a natural with children, since she had been a school teacher at one point. But after that point she had been turned into a deadly... weapon. That's all she was for a while, until the grey heap she kicked made her feel like more.

"Where am I...?" She heard from the back of the Pelican, and she kicked the door.

"GODDAMNIT."


	2. Felix

When Rebecca woke, she was scared for a moment.

Where was she?

It took a few minutes until the memories came flooding back; her pelican crashed on Chorus the day before, and she agreed to help a woman named Kimball in a war. She wasn't given anymore details, just a room and an alarm clock.

She sat on the bed, leaned over with her elbows on her knees. God, it had been rough, the crash. If it weren't for her Venator armor- which, at the time of Project Freelancer, was a technological advancement- she would be dead. There was no doubt. But it absorbed the impact, only denting the chest plate. She felt sore, though. It felt as if every bone in her body screamed in protest as she stood up, and her arm was sore. She glanced down to see that it was bandaged, and remembered waking from the crash with a gash in her arm from debris. Looking around the room for her casuals, she found that they sat on the dresser provided, camo cargo pants and a red tank top. She laughed; Kimball must have noticed the red that wasn't blood on her armor and specifically told them to provide her with red.

She quickly dressed and laced up the boots before making her way to the main headquarters. She watched the way the wind blew the sand across her boots, thinking of what she might encounter in there. But it wasn't what she expected.

When she opened the door, Rebecca saw four people, all armored. Kimball, she recognized, and three she didn't. She walked forward, standing next to them in all her five foot seven glory. And of course the first thing she said was a joke, "Well now I feel left out."

Kimball simply laughed, motioning to the others around her. "You wouldn't want to be part of half the people in this room anyways, it's okay."

You would have guessed that that was arranged by how fast the man in grey and orange armor spoke up. "I don't know, I think I'm one of the okay people. But, that would just mean that poor you is a baddie, Kimball. Who else?" There was one thing Rebecca could say for sure, and that was that she hated his voice. He was so cocky, and he seemed like he thought that everybody should bow down to him.

"That's Felix." Kimball explained. "You get used to the flamboyant personality after some amount of time. I can't tell you how long it'll take, because it took me a pretty long time, but... You'll get there eventually."

"I'll introduce myself, then." The blonde answered. "My name is Rebecca Waters. I've been a mercenary for quite a few years, but I'm here to help in the war effort. I used to be part of project freelancer, and I'm trying to make up for what I had to do."

"Gee, you really do lay it on, don't you?"

"I told you I liked her because she was honest, Felix. If you keep acting like this we both know you're not going to like the repercussions."

"You make it sound like you ever punish me for anything. You never could, Nessie."

"Can you stop with the nickname? You're one of my soldiers, not a friend."

Rebecca cleared her throat, and it seemed to get everyone back on topic.

"Right. Due to her background, I believe that I would like to have Rebecca help us here in command. However, because we don't know her, that doesn't mean that I will need someone to monitor her until I can be sure she isn't here on orders from the Feds." Kimball turned to Felix again. "I want you to watch her. I know you'll have no problem putting a bullet in her skull if she proves to be with the feds."

Rebecca was internally unhappy, but kept a neutral face. She didn't seem to like this man already, he seemed like he thought that he was King. She could never stand anyone like that, people with a narcissist complex like that were the kind of people that she tried to avoid. But, here she was.

"Oh. Right. Will I be paid?"

"Yes, Felix. We've been scouring the planet for you, don't make me spread my men thinner than they already are."

"Yes ma'am."

"Show her around the compound. But let her get suited up first."

"Gotcha." Felix answered, walking forward. Apparently he saw the questioning look on Rebecca's face, because he jerked his head towards the door in a silent order to follow him. And, unsurprisingly, she did. Once it was shut, he answered her unspoken question. "Chorus is involved with the Civil War. There were people that didn't like how the federal army of chorus did things, and started a rebellion, otherwise known as where you are, you guessed it, the new Republic. Being as it's kind of a splinter from the original group, Kimball prefers that were all in armor and ready to go at a moment's notice in case we're attacked."

"That's respectable," Rebecca said as they walked back towards where her bunking area was. She had been given a decent space, fairly roomey with a TV. A TV! She was pretty sure there was no channels out here, but the idea was still amazing. She walked into her room, closing the door behind her so she could strip down and into her bodysuit. As soon as she was armored she came back out, shotgun and sniper magnetized on her back, helmet in hand.

"Oh, wow. That's some high tech armor. How does a merc afford that?"

"Before I was a merc I was in Project Freelancer, remember?"

"No. I wasn't listening."

"Of course you weren't. Anyways, after a mission went wrong I became the lab rat and trainer for the others. They were planning on rolling out armor like mine to everyone else until the project fell."

"How much would you sell it for?" Felix deadpanned and she snorted.

"As if. I take better care of it than you do of your own."

"Says the dent right there," he reached over and touched the dent and she realized he had no concept of personal space. Great.

The rest of the tour around was a decently okay tour. He was annoying, snarky, and narcissistic, but the bases were easy to remember.

"Kimball is sending me out to recruit some dudes who crashed not far from here. Apparently you have the same Pelican types huh? I gotta say, it took some convincing but I am a master of my trade, and she finally agreed."

She had a headache from listening to him gush about himself the whole time but nodded. "Okay. I'm going to go get lunch."

He looked absolutely appalled that she didn't agree, but she didn't care as she walked the opposite direction, towards the mess hall. He was going to be a nightmare to be around, but she had to remind herself, it was just until the war was over, and she'd be damned if she didn't bring it to a quick end.


	3. Unbearable

How could anyone stand Felix? He was so fucking self absorbed that she felt like he thought the world revolved around him, and to be fair, that more than likely was his average train of thought.

All Rebecca knew was that he made her genuinely unhappy. His general presence in a room put her in a bad mood. Today she was sat in the mess hall when he walked in, unbearable from even across the room. Jensen, who was sitting next to her, noticed her mood drop and frowned.

"What's wrong?" She asked, lisp ever-present.

"How do you deal with him? Felix I mean. He makes me want to jump into the slime pool." Rebecca answered, turning to face her friend. 

Katie shrugged, sipping from her juice box. "You learn to live with him. He's trying to help Tucker and the others get their freelancer friend and other friends back."

"Wait, what? Freelancer friend?" She asked, eyes wide. She set her fork down, looking at Katie in disbelief. Nobody called themselves freelancers these days, except for actual freelancers.

"Yeah, he calls himself Washington. Did you know him?" 

"I did!" Rebecca exclaimed, standing up quickly and walking over to Felix where he stood in line to get his MREs. She cleared her throat and he visibly tensed, clearly unaware of her presence. His helmet remained on but she could tell by the way his voice sounded that he likely looked annoyed too.

"What, Rhode?" He snapped, handing over his money chips.

"Why didn't you tell me the Feds had Wash?" She demanded, upset, but also bubbling with excitement. To see an old friend would mean the world to her, and god would it be amazing to reminisce about the good times when Wash would come and sit with her while she was recovering from yet another armor malfunction.

"Because you freelancer types tend to, you know, freelance. We need you here in case there's an attack," Felix explained, taking his MREs and starting to walk away, but Becca wasn't done. Her and Wash were more than friends in the past, but the past was the past... right? She hoped he would think so too because she was honestly done with relationships. Everyone she loved always died or was left in her past. To be fair, David Washington was supposed to be in her past. He was presumed dead, to be fair, being as he had gone MIA for multiple years. She was still alive and kicking, waiting for the Meta to show his face and come to try and kill her. She was ready to kill him for what he had done to North, Carolina, York and more.

Okay, to be fair, York never lost his AI to the Meta, but it was still applicable. He started the fall of the Project in her eyes.

"I'm not gonna run off into their HQ, Felix. I'm not dumb-"

"Are you sure?"

Rebecca had to pause, appalled he would say that. But then, was she really? He didn't care about anyone but himself, and that was clear. "Yes, shitdick!" She snapped. Becca didn't swear often, but when she did it was absolutely terrible. Some people really brought out the worst in her. He seemed to be one of them. "I just wish I wasn't left out of the loop when it comes to the people that I care about."

"Oh, so that's it. He's your boyfriend?" Felix said, fake pity in his tone.

"What? No."

"Then he was. I can read people, and you're an open book."

"I- fine, yes, we have a past. But at this point, I'm tired of only seeing unfamiliar faces around here. I miss my friends and I want to see them again." She admitted, sighing.

"Too bad sweetcheeks. Now you know, though, so get off my ass." He snapped and she shook her head, backing away and walking back to her table.

"I'll make him come around. I don't know what they're doing to get Wash back, but I want to be involved in it, Katie." Rebecca said with a determination she hadn't felt since the day she had beat the shit out of one of the merc men for treating her less than respectfully. She sighed slightly, watching the man in grey and orange as he left the mess despite the strict "food must be kept in the mess rule". He had his way with everyone, but she wouldn't be phased by his charming attitude since she knew how he truly was. She wanted to get Wash back and would do whatever was necessary.

 

A few days later, give or take, Rebecca had decided that Felix was unbearable. She had to get onto his good side though so she could get to Wash. It sounded terrible but, she had to use him. But to be fair, he probably used people more than he used his tacpad, so she didn't feel as bad about it. She was frustrated, but slowly getting there.

Today, she had decided she was going to outright annoy him until he either pushed her away or pulled her in. So she walked towards him, watching as he 'trained' some soldiers. But she could see at least three flaws in the way he taught and stepped up, nudging his shoulder. "Let me," the blonde said through her armors comms and he shrugged, sitting down. He probably thought she wasn't gonna do shit, but in reality? She wasn't going to insult the soldiers and gloat about herself, and that would get her bounds further.

Her voice carried through the room without a single problem as she dished out orders, watching the armored soldiers clamber up the net and through everything else. She didn't understand why they still used ancient training techniques, but it seemed fruitless to ask, so she didn't.

When she turned to look at Felix, he was looking at her. She could just feel the way he was glaring daggers at her for showing him up, and it satisfied her. Of course, he couldn't see her smile through her triple-visored helmet but god, was she overjoyed to have pissed him off the way he had been pissing her off.

"Alright, enough!" He yelled, snapping her from her thoughts. "You're all dismissed for the day!" All the men and women started to file out of the room, and when they were all gone, Felix tore his helmet off.

"You just really had to be a show-off, huh?" He asked, clearly upset, and she took her own helmet off. As it rested in between her arm and her side, she scoffed.

"You saw for yourself how they listened when I came in. It's because I didn't have to gush about how good I was- I commanded respect in my voice. I don't have to tell people my accomplishments for them to realize my authority." Did Rebecca know she was playing with fire? Yes. Did she care? No, not at all. If he wanted to fight it out she would.

"Oh, fuck off." He said, and she knew exactly why that was all. She had outsmarted him.

"You act like you're the goddamn king but you aren't, Felix. You're nothing but a narcissist with a God complex. Sit down sugar, you aren't special."

His mouth hung open, as if he couldn't process that she had the audacity to put him in his place. She laughed as she watched him leave the room, enjoying how she had outdone him.


	4. Persuasion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rebecca finally gets on Felix's good side and finds herself in a compromising position.

Rebecca's plan hadn't worked out all that well and it turned out that she only succeeded in making Felix hate her and avoid her more. She was upset about it, but any time she tried to talk to him, he completely ignored her or cut her off with a quick "I don't care" before he would back away from her. She was ready to talk to Kimball about it when she happened to be in the same room as Felix one day, alone, where he couldn't get away. She was in her red tank top and camo cargo jeans, while he was in full armor. She wondered if he had gone a day without his armor since he arrived, seeing as she never saw him in anything but, and she saw him every day.

"Felix, we need to talk." She said, approaching him. He was tall in his armor, a full six foot seven. An entire foot taller than her, and she didn't like the way he looked down at her, but she knew she held the power card here.

"No, we don't." He replied sharply. "Last time we 'talked', you humiliated me."

"In front of who, yourself? Nobody important was there, except for maybe your now bruised ego." Despite being so cruel to him, Rebecca had to admit. If he kept his mouth shut, he was an attractive man. The day she had snapped at him was the day she had seen his face and apparently she was the only one in the base network who had ever had the pleasure. And it was a genuine pleasure, that was for sure. But she wasn't here to fall over the asshole in the grey armor. She was here to try and save the nice guy in the grey armor.

"Shut up, Rebecca." He said and she smirked. 

"Using my real name? Real personal, Felix. What are you gonna say next? My last name?"

"Waters."

"Fuck you."

"Tempting, but no."

This left her unable to speak and he snorted.

"You can play the game of putting me down but the second I make a rude and sexual comment you turn into a fish gasping for air."

"It's not that I'm gasping for air. It's that I wasn't expecting you to be so forward about your fantasies. Sorry to break it to you but you definitely aren't my type," She answered, folding her arms over her chest. She suddenly felt very exposed in the tank top. She understood that it was to keep her cool in the hot Chorus weather, but it seemed inconvienent now.

"You definitely wish I wasn't."

"What is that supposed to mean?" She asked, raising a brow.

"I'm everyone's type, baby."

She couldn't stop her cheeks from flushing red at the nickname and she sighed in frustration. "Well, you aren't mine. So tell me what the stick up your ass is all about."

"I don't like being shown up. Pretty or not, Rebecca, I rule the roost here. Stay in your lane, otherwise you might find yourself hurt."

"Is that.. Is that a threat, Felix?" She asked, appalled.

"I don't know. Is it?" He didn't leave time for her to answer before he simply left the room through a door she hadn't seen. But Rebecca would get what she wanted, whether or not he was willing to give the information. She followed after him, continuing the conversation as if there was no change.

"I want to help. You're training the new guys, right? So they can go?" She asked, keeping pace with him easily. She could her his frustrated sigh and she internally reveled in the fact that she pissed him off.

"Yes. And no, you can't help."

"Too bad. All I have to do is ask Kimball- you don't have a choice." She smirked, sprinting ahead to the only other place Kimball could be. Rebecca called in the Slime Pool, but that's just cause she didn't know the name. Felix apparently followed, but his armor slowed him slightly in comparison to her light clothing. She made quicker time than him by a landslide, and was able to start talking to Kimball before he even arrived.

"I want to help with training the troopers." She said, a determined look in her eyes.

Kimball didn't seem at all phased and nodded. "Alright, Felix needs to help anyways. He isn't doing much." She answered. Nobody but Felix really knew the reason why for that, and he didn't plan on working more as it was.

"Good, then let her take over Vanessa." He snapped from behind them, voice laced with poison. He was genuinely upset.

"She isn't taking over. I know this is gonna sound insane, but you'll just have to work with her, Felix."

"Yeah, Kimball, it does sound fucking insane because I refuse to work with a stuck up bitch."

"What has she ever done to you, Gates?"

"She showed me up in front of my men!" The man whined, sounding awfully like a toddler.

"Oh shut the fuck up, there wasn't much to show up." Rebecca snapped, glaring at him. "You were literally just talking about how great you are. I actually got them working. Take a page from my book."

Felix said nothing for a long while before what sounded like resignation could be heard in his voice. "Fine. She can work with me. But that doesn't mean I'm bringing her to rescue those pathetic freelancers."

That irked Becca in a way she couldn't quite place, and, despite knowing the risk, crushed her fist into the visor. There was a sick crack as her hand simultaneously broke and his visor cracked.

She rocked back on her heels, gasping in pain as she held her now limp hand in her good one, a look of shock and agony on her face.

"So that wasn't the smartest decision I've ever seen a soldier make, but God was it one of the greatest I've ever witnessed. Felix, go get your visor fixed."

The grey armored man took his helmet off and showed off a new cut above his eyebrow where the visor had slashed his skin. Not hospital worthy though. Shame, he would have loved an excuse to not be around this woman. He did have to admit, though she had some guts. He could like that at least.

As soon as Felix was gone, Vanessa burst out laughing. "That was amazing, Waters. I've never seen anyone stand up to him like that."

Rebecca had to let a laugh out even through gritted teeth. "That's great. Can you help me up? I broke my hand."

"Right." Vanessa situated her arms around the other woman the best she could without her armor jabbing into Rebecca, helping her up and walking her to the infirmary. There, medics rushed to her side, getting her to a bed where she was injected with something that made her... so sleepy........

 

It felt like hours had passed when she finally awoke, the lights dimmed. She looked out the window and saw it was dark aside from the lights on the guards helmets. Looking to her hand she saw that it was merely bandaged, and she figured she was given some bullshit serum to heal instantly. Swinging her legs off the bed, she used her good hand and stood up, approaching the door. As she got to it though, it slid open, and there stood Felix. This time they were equally dressed. He was in just clothes, as was she. His shirt was the same grey with the same orange accent, and he wore the same standard issue cargo pants and boots that she did.

To see him out of armor was weird. She could now see that he had monochromatic tattoos up his neck and down his arms, which definitely was something she didn't expect. Yeah, he was an ass, but he didn't seem like the tattoo type. 

"Oh shit. I was on my way to go get some foo-"

"I came here to congratulate you."

"Wait, what, Felix?" She asked, actually dumbfounded.

"You did it. You're on my side. You can come with. Don't make me regret it." He said, then turned around. Before the door slid shut, she heard him call "good job with the punch though", and it was genuine.

Suddenly not hungry, she laid back down and fell back asleep with a million thoughts swirling in her head.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A lot of confusion on both parts.

The next few days were interesting; Felix seemed to be okay with her, not her best friend but not her mortal enemy. The air was no longer charged with tension when they were near each other, rather it was simply... air. The way they were able to work together was what really caught her off guard, considering he seemed like he hated her not too long ago.

While the change of heart was definitely a surprise in itself, Rebecca was going to accept it without any arguing. This war was bound to drain Chorus from any energy it stored, and she wouldn't be the one who caused even more problems because she didn't like a soldier. Felix's attitude was less than favorable, but she found that she could tone it out enough that she needn't hear all the stupidity that filtered past his lips, but hear just enough to grasp the important information. As it was anyways, she could tone out at any time and come back at a random time and there was a high chance he would still be going off about how great he was or whatever.

Today specifically, they were training some of the new recruits. These men were mostly the bread winners of their homes, civilians recruited for the ever persistent war effort. Rebecca had taught them a thing or two about the most effective way to use their weapons- meaning how to actually aim- then let Felix do the rest. She was mostly there to supervise, according to Kimball- the man had a habit of getting of topic, so she was around to steer him back when it got to the point that nothing was being done anymore. After a couple days of her doing this though, he had seemed to have gotten the hint and was now staying focused, only throwing in a narcissistic comment here and there.

After a solid five minutes of the men running laps, Rebecca stood up and approached her armored counterpart. "I think they're shaping up decently." She said, but her tone was anything but positive. "Though, we have to push them harder. I know that's terrible but they won't stand a chance if they're just... decent."

If anything Felix had to give this woman, it was that she knew what she was doing. One would imagine that she grew up a military brat, but they weren't friends enough for him to ask. The man could see the two of them being friends, but there were only two ways that would happen. One, if she gave up on trying to change him or two, if he dropped is ego. The thought of the latter made him audibly chuckle. "They do need to be pushed, I just didn't want to push any of your royal highness' buttons," He said, his expression snarky underneath his helmet. He hadn't taken it off since the day that he had snapped at her in the damned training room, save for eating and other things that required it to be off.

"Well, consider them un-pushed." She said dryly, her tone dead as a bird hit by a rock. She had a headache and barely enough willpower to deal with him today. She stepped forward, watching the men run their laps, before making her decision.

She put her fingers between her lips and whistled, the sound carrying loudly. Her helmet lay on the bench she had previously been sitting on, so she was purely her, and these men respected that. Not because she was pretty, but because she had the balls to deal with Felix. Plot twist, pretty much nobody liked him.

"Alright, I love your dedication, but we need to be working HARDER." She said, heavily emphasizing the last word. "I know that this isn't easy, this isn't what you are used to, but we're fighting for what we love and believe in, and there's no room for error, not on the battlefield, not in the training room"

"Oorah!" The men shouted in return. She smiled a little.

"So, you're all dismissed for the night but I expect to see you here tomorrow at 0500 to work on weapons again. If you fail to show, you will be booted."

She could hear Felix whine behind her, not a fan of getting up early, but she held up her hand and his protest stopped.

"I expect to see you all bright and early! Work hard enough and you'll be excused in time for breakfast." The men filed out without a single word more from her, and she turned to Felix, knowing he would be unhappy.

"5 a.m.? Really?" Was the first words to come out of his mouth, and she simply sighed.

"Yes, Felix." She said, exasperated as she began to rub her temples. He knew how to get on her nerves like nobody else's business and she wanted to just knock him out.

"Why so damn early? Breakfast isn't even ready by the-"

"Maybe wherever you were training was a camp for pussies, but the fact of the matter is, war doesn't wait for you to sleep and eat damn food. If these men are left to think that they're able to just drop everything to eat, they're fucking wrong, Felix!" She snapped, anger radiating off of her. "They will die if we don't fucking teach them how to be the warriors we have to teach them to be. Do you want that? Do you want Vasquez to die, when he's got a mom back home who's worried about him?"

Felix was stunned for a moment at the woman's outburst- she normally kept her temper in check, and was mostly pleasant. This was a side of her that he hadn't ever seen, and he kind of liked it. Harsh, like him. Maybe he was rubbing off on her. But her comment about Vasquez's mother really hit home. He thought of his mother, the mother who thought her son was dead, who cried alone all the time because she thought she was the only Gates left. He sighed, resigning.

"Yeah. Okay, Beck. I'm sorry." He said, not quite thinking much of the nickname.

"Beck?" She asked, cocking a brow in surprise at the new name. It was usually bitch or Waters.

"Yeah. I thought we were friends." He shrugged nonchalantly, seeming not at all bothered whereas Rebecca was anything but a fan of how friendly he was being all of the sudden. He wanted something. And she would play his game.

"Alright, then what do I call you? What's your name?"

"Felix." He replied curtly and she laughed a little.

"Hold on, so you get to call me by my first name, but I don't even get to know yours?"

"Maybe you've never been in a situation like this one but that asshole on the other side- you know, the side trying to kill you?- he'll kill anyone who he thinks even looks at me with a friendly look. And these soldiers clearly need you." He sighed, closing his eyes. Thank God for the helmet, because he definitely looked stressed. He was. "I hate to admit it but you do much better than I do and they would be nowhere without you."

Rebecca had to fight the urge to laugh. Felix, admitting he wasn't hot shit? As if. To be fair, though, he was- he had sort of grown on her in some sort of jacked up way, and vice versa.

"Fine. Keep your secrets." She said playfully, but she got nothing back from him. Expression turning back to annoyance, she grabbed her helmet and water bottle. "See you tomorrow then, Felix." She said monotonously, leaving the room and walking back to her bunk with quite a few burning questions.


	6. Fight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some hand to hand goes awry, but not necessarily in a bad way.

Time was a weird concept. A weird construct. In the days of Project Freelancer, it was a well known fact that your days were numbered. Or at least for Rebecca. She knew the project was anything but good, and one day she would likely be killed for what she did when the truth came out. Yet, it never happened. She survived the crash. Her AI somewhat did- the implant malfunctioned on impact and she hadn’t found a surgeon capable of fixing it. Zeta, his name was, and he was like a rebellious teen, whereas Becca was mostly a goody two shoes. But being through what she had been was turning her into anything but nice, and as much as she hated it, there was no way to stop it anymore. Her life was a series of bad things happening with one good thing sprinkled in here and there.

She couldn’t decide if what was happening here was good or bad to be fair, but that was because Felix had his tongue practically down her throat, and hers was down his. Yeah, it’s a weird development. Lets take a step back to this morning.  
~~~  
At 0500, every marine she had asked to come was there and ready to kick some serious ass. Obviously that wasn’t what they were good at but you know, who cares- they were there for a good time and Rebecca planned to make this training session fun if she could. Nobody quite liked Felix, but he was comedic to listen to so she gave her orders then let Felix do whatever- and comedic he was. He launched into some story of how he was able to singlehandedly take out a platoon, though, she knew that was untrue because she remembered reading the report of this fight. Locus, Felix’s former partner, had been there too, and together they had decimated the entire force.

The men were getting a chuckle out of his theatrics, and Rebecca was simply amused enough that she wasn’t assed enough to stop him. The soldiers were doing what was asked of them, and that was good enough for her.

Hours passed before she let up on them, letting them go just in time to catch the last of the breakfast servings. As they were leaving and she was collecting her things, she felt Felix’s presence behind her.

“Hi, Felix.” She said without any malice. She could stand him at least.

“Hey Beck. Not getting breakfast?”

“No, not really. I had a granola bar this morning.” She shrugged.

“A granola bar? That’s hardly anything. You’ve got to be eating more of you’ve got such- nevermind. What about lunch?”

While intrigued by what he was going to say, she let it go. “Yes, I’ll be getting lunch Felix. Why are you so obsessed with my eating habits?”

“I’m not! I just… You should be eating full meals so you can stay healthy.” He said sheepishly, and she raised an eyebrow.

“Are you implying that you care about me, Felix?”

“Absolutely not!” He suddenly seemed very defensive, and she laughed. “I just think everyone needs to be at their absolute best so that we can be prepared.”

“You never say absolutely, and you just said it twice. Normally people don’t use words they don’t often use, and they don’t use them more than once unless mildly uncomfortable or lying. Take your pick.”

“Don’t psychoanalyze me. How did you learn how to do that anyways? You’re a soldier.”

“In the Project, I got hurt real bad and the Director decided I wasn’t any good in the field anymore. So I spent a lot of time with his second in command, the Counselour. He knows… a lot. I could psychoanalyze you and knock you flat on your ass simultaneously.”

“Yeah blondie, you wish you could knock me on my ass. I’m stronger than you in every which way.”

“Oh I know you are. But strength doesn’t mean you’ll always win, don’t you know that? There can and will be a time when someone will take you out because you think brute force is enough.” Rebecca said, a challenge in her gaze.

“Alright, I’ll make you a deal then.”

“I’m listening.”

“If you can knock me down then I won’t give you shit for a week. If you can’t, I get to be as annoying as I want.” His smirk was far from playful; it was arrogant and full of confidence.

“Wow, the asshole admits he’s annoying? Somebody call the news!” She threw her arms up with a look of mock surprise on her face, but when she put her arms down she was smirking. “Alright. Bet.” She hopped off the ledge that they were standing on (instead of using the stairs because she’s… I dunno, a degenerate I guess) and walked to the middle of the training room. When she got there she started to take her armor off and kept going until all that was left was her bodysuit.

“Hey, hold on, what are you doing?” Felix asked, not necessarily nervous but not happy.

“Armor off. No artificial enhancements allowed. See, I even turned my AI off.” She said dryly, turning her head to show the mangled place her AI was implanted and now ruined at.

“Ha-ha. Alright, if you wanna see my body so ba-”

“You can leave your bodysuit on, thanks.”

He simply grumbled as he followed suit of the smaller woman who was truly smaller now. She was probably about 5’7”, whereas he stood at a solid 6’2” out of his armor. The difference was barely noticeable though, as they always had that height difference, even in armor. But something about this was different. She was so vulnerable, no armor, apparently no AI- he didn’t know there was one in the first place- this would be so easy.

He stepped forward, now in his bodysuit, about three feet away from the woman, who stood so casually as if she wasn’t about to lose the greatest bet of her life. “Alright devil woman. Work your magic.”

“Devil woman? I’ll take it.” She said, now finally standing at a stance that she was comfortable and confident with. He followed suit and after a few moments of sizing him up, she charged at him with her right shoulder, hitting him square in the chest and somewhat knocking the breath out of him. He assumed she would have laughed it off and backed off when he stumbled, but she didn’t. She kept pushing, twisting enough that she could reach his legs with hers easily, and he wasn’t about to let that happen.

He placed a hand on her waist, deceivingly gentle, and the other on her shoulder, quickly twisting her so that her back was to his and he had her in a choke hold. Again, he assumed she would do something, and again, he as wrong. He assumed she would give in, but with a grunt of frustration she brought her elbow up to his face, hitting him square in the nose. He released his grip on her and reached up to touch his nose, his gloved hand coming back with blood on the fingers.

“Oh you bitch!” He snapped, now angy. For a moment he saw an emotion of some sort- fear maybe- pass over her face before she went back to focusing on the task. When he lunged at her, she moved to the side just enough that he wouldn’t grab onto her, but close enough she could land a blow on his back. Her elbow made connection about mid spine and he yelled in pain. She didn’t know that he was sensitive there and a part of her felt bad, but the other part didn’t feel bad at all because he was so infuriating.

“I’m a smart bitch, though.” She said and he turned around. When he did, she was already in his face and alas, she finally took him down. He landed on his back with the weight of her on top of him, which effectively left him completely out of breath. She was on top of him, straddling him with a huge grin.

She leaned down until their faces were mere inches apart and whispered cheekily, “I win, Felix.”

He examined her face, then grabbed her cheeks. Obviously not too harshly, but enough she gasped in shock. “Isaac.” He said quietly.

“What?”

“My name is Isaac, Rebecca.”

She laughed bitterly. “So all it took was knocking you on your ass to find out your name? Well if only I had known.”

“You showed me that you’re capable of fucking me over. I feel like I should trust you.” Sirens were going off in his head, screaming at him not to trust her at all, but he didn’t care. He could be fucking selfish now and then, couldn’t he?

Rebeca simply laughed out loud, her smile large enough she was showing her teeth, which were perfectly white. If he looked up more he would find something extremely incredible- she had heterochromia. One blue eye and one hazel eye. He stopped his train of thought and asked her, “Why have I never noticed your eyes?”

“Well in between being obsessed with yourself, and having my helmet on, I don’t think you even knew I had eyes.” She said a little sourly and he simply laughed, taking the initiative for something he would regret soon. He pulled her down closer and kissed her, not caring that her lips were slightly chapped. Chorus didn’t much care for how nice one wanted their lips to look, it more cared for blistering heat on one end and freezing cold on the other. They were in the heat.

For a moment Rebecca did nothing, and Isaac worried it was the wrong move, until her shoulders relaxed and she planted her hands on either side of him. She was actually kissing him back and he really couldn’t believe the whole situation in general. Merely a week ago, he wanted to hang her up high enough to carnivorous flying animals, whatever they were, would eat her alive. And now, he was the one that wanted to do the eating. But not in the same was a dinosaur wannabe- no, in a more… pleasing way.

His hands left her face and began to wander around her body, feeling the curves she so stealthily hid with her armor, the curve of her back, slowly trailing up, further and further, now on the front…

Good god, he didn’t know it now, but Rebecca Waters would be the death of Isaac Gates.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so the next chapter is definitely gonna be smutty. there's no denying that. he's practically groping her titties, man.
> 
> anyways, thanks for reading!
> 
> I wanna push out updates once a week but it's really hit or miss (I guess they never miss, huh?) considering I have work, college, etc. but here's to hoping yeeeeeet


	7. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> smut. the one thing I cannot write to save my life.

Rebecca had no fucking clue what she was doing.

Well, okay- she knew what she was doing, but she had no goddamn clue why.

Stumbling into the room of the man she had just overpowered with his hands all over her, his lips on hers and her fingers deftly undoing the zipper of her bodysuit. He had dropped their armor on the ground the moment the door was closed and hadn't bothered with trying to pick it back up. He was too focused on her.

She smelled so good. Maybe it was her shampoo. He couldn't name the scent but goddamn, it was good. He knew he smelled like cologne since he practically bathed in it earlier that day.

The black bodysuit slipped down her body and he found himself slightly in shock- Rebecca was... covered in tattoos. He apparently hadn't noticed when he had first met her but now they were glaringly obvious. A sunflower on her right shoulder in the front, covering a nasty scar of some sort. A cherry blossom tree "growing" up her left leg. Down her left arm was all sorts of flowers, with was looked like the skull of a cat in the middle on the back, but he couldn't be sure, since he couldn't see it. And he imagined her back was tattooed as well.

He had some tattoos as well, but none of them popped with color like hers. All of his were monochromatic. Hers had so much color it was like looking at a painting in a museum and he was momentarily stunned by how pretty they were.

"Your tattoos... they're really nice." He said sheepishly. He didn't compliment people often, if ever. He wasn't good at it in any way at all but it happens, you know?

"Thank you." She said in response, her voice soft and nice. God, why was he suddenly a pansy for this woman?

Felix never wanted so bad to smack himself, but simultaneously, he was okay with it. It wouldn't be bad to just let himself have fun. Really.

He quickly took his bodysuit off as well, not necessarily ashamed of how toned and defined he was. He used to be a skinny little twig but now he was a match for really anyone who dared even look at him wrong. He looked up to see Rebecca eyeing him up like he was a meal.

"Like what you see?" He asked lowly, his voice almost daring her to answer, to stroke his ego.

"Mmm... yeah. Just a bit."

This was a side of Rebecca he never thought he would see, but he wasn't complaining that he was now. She had a damn nice body. She didn't have a six pack, but her stomach was toned. She was lean is what she was. She had the body of a fighter with the scars to match it. They crisscrossed mostly her legs and torso, with the largest being the shoulder.

"What happened to your shoulder?" He asked curiously, reaching out to touch the scarring and tattoo.

"The reason The Director thought I was better as a training dummy. Agent South Dakota neglected to do her job on a mission, which was to take out a sniper, which resulted in me losing a lot of blood and having plenty of shattered bones replaced with metal ones."

"Wait, so you have a robot arm?"

"No, the only cybernetics I have is my AI and armor. It's just metal plates."

"That's... huh. And you got demoted?"

"Yep. Lost my spot on the leaderboard. Not like it would have mattered anyways. About a month later, that Texas bitch showed up. Ruined everything really."

"I don't know who that is and I really, really don't care right now. Backstory is fun but not when my dick is hard." Felix said, nonchalant, as if he weren't being rude. But then again, that's all Felix was.

"Alright, Isaac." She put extra emphasis on his name, grinning a little when his face turned a little sour. He didn't like being called by his name. She knew how to press his buttons now.

She closed the distance between them and pulled his head down so they could kiss. The desperation finally set in and she pushed herself against himself as much as possible. They were chest to chest, hands all over one another.

Felix's hands found their way down to her ass and smoothly, he picked her up. She had apparently expected it, as the second he indicated it could be happening, she let him, and wrapped her legs around him. The kiss wasn't broken the whole time, aside from for a bit of breath.

He walked them over to the bed and quite literally dropped her on it. He wasn't the romantic type. Leaning down, he reached behind her and unclasped her bra, though there was some caution; he would have stopped if she indicated she wasn't okay with it. Felix had... some semblance of respect. But she didn't stop him.

He took the bra off of her, dropping it to the ground and turning back to look at her. She didn't have the largest tits, but to him they were still beautiful. "Back up a bit," he said, and when she did, he climbed on top of her, using one hand to support himself and the other to grope at her breasts. Her lips quirked up in a smirk and she pulled his head down to hers again for another kiss. This time it was fiery, hot. She wanted this, and it excited him even more. It didn't help that she was also the hottest chick he had ever seen.

She grabbed the wrist of the hand that was playing with her breasts and pushed it more downwards, and he took the hint. He hooked the thin strip of fabric that was the side of her panties under his finger and pushed them down as far as he could, letting her go the rest of the way.

"Just fingerin-"

"Anything you want. Just... do something." She said, her eyes locked onto his with an undeniable lust evident in them. A chill went down his spine and he nodded, plan already in his head.

He ran his pointer finger down, rubbing her clit slowly and watching her face as her eyes closed and her head fell back against the sheets. He smirked a little, continuing for a few more moments before he scooted up a little and leaned down. He purposely stopped so she would focus on him, and when she did, his head was between her thighs.

"I'm not complaining," she said with a sly grin, her cheeks slightly pink. He knew what he was doing and that was evident.

He started out slow, wanting to drag it out and tease her as much as he could. Maybe he had a begging kink. That was for him to know and her to find out. He, however, didn't stare up at her while he was eating her out; no, he focused solely on what he was doing, and of course, those sweet moans coming from her lips.

She tasted sweet, albeit still like pussy. Can't get rid of that taste considering that's literally what he was eating. He felt the sheets pull under him and pulled his head up enough so he was no longer between her legs, only to see that she had grasped at the sheets. Well, he would take it. He didn't know he was doing that good but he wasn't about to complain. Maybe one day he could really show her all that he could do.

"Why'd you stop?" She asked, shaking him from his thoughts. 

"Cause, you seem like you're definitely ready." He said cockily, and she rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, no shit Sherlock. I wouldn't be naked on your bed otherwise." She sounded a little annoyed and he chuckled.

"Impatient are we?" He asked, and she sat up. He grabbed her wrist, not necessarily gentle about it and led her hand to the hem of his boxers. She started to take them off but he stopped her. "Yeah, you are."

"No, you made it seem like that's what you wanted."

"It is."

"Then why did you stop me?"

"Are you ready to be absolutely awestruck?" He said, a lazy grin on his face.

"You said absolutely again, so I can guess that you're lying and you pack a four incher." She replied, definitely knowing what she was doing. He growled slightly and pushed her back down, getting rid of his boxers himself. She tried to lift her head to look, but he wasn't having any of that. He pinned her back down with a hand on her throat and for a moment he saw what could have been a hint of fear in her eyes before she realized what he was doing, and a grin formed on her face.

"You don't need to see. You'll feel how big I am." He said lowly, and she nodded a little.

"Alright, then."

But he didn't plan on giving in so easily. He positioned himself in just the right place, but didn't push in. He simply teased the tip of his dick against her lips, watching the frustration build in her eyes.

"Fuck you, asshole." She said quietly.

"I will, just... waiting for the magic word."

"Are... are you fucking joking? Magic word? Are you ten?"

"Ten inches? Yes, actually, glad you noticed."

The urge to smack him was overbearing but she held it back just enough. She didn't like seeming vulnerable, like anyone had control over her, but she was desperate. He slowly moved his hands to her thighs, gripping a little tighter than she would have expected.

"Please." She ground out, and when she looked up at him, his head was a little cocked. He let go of one of her thighs and cupped his hand behind his ear and she groaned. "Please, Felix, fuck me." He still held out and she wracked her brain, before, "Isaac, please."

That seemed to click with him and he quickly leaned over her, reaching into the drawer next to her head and pulling out a condom.

"Sorry, gorgeous, but I'm not taking any chances."

"Not a problem with me." She said, watching.

He tore the package open and rolled the condom on before tossing the empty wrapper to the side. Classy.

She didn't have time to say anything about it though, because by the time she had turned her head back to look at him, he was over her, lips crashing against hers. She kissed back greedily, her patience beginning to wear thin.

Finally he pulled back from her and reached down, slowly pushing in.

Rebecca would be a big fat liar to say it didn't hurt like hell. She hadn't slept with anyone since the Project, that someone being David. And even then, it was rare considering the harsh protocol standards. To get to one another's room was a damn miracle.

What was a little sucky about that relationship, was that they had never properly broken up. The Mother of Invention crashed, and Rhode Island, otherwise known as our dear lovely Rebecca, fled, hoping to find Washington soon after. She did find him, but it wasn't the ideal situation. He was crouched over the corpse of one of their friends, Agent Hawaii, whom of which he had just killed to recover the armor. Rebecca ran and never looked back. He had hunted her for a while before manually turning her recovery beacon off in the system and reporting to command that she had died and he wasn't able to recover her armor, or Zeta. Sucked, really, considering he loved her. But he messed that up, and he knew it.

Isaac was slow at first, probably able to tell it was her first time in a while. If not for how her face was slightly twisted in pain, then for how tight she was. He was an ass, but not enough to cause her unnecessary pain.

After a few slow thrusts, Rebecca opened her eyes, which had been shut, and looked up at him. It was a wordless exchange. He knew what that look meant.

Now it was his turn to think of how long it had been for him- his tolerance wasn't nearly what it used to be, but he didn't want her to feel unsatisfied. "fuck," He cursed under his breath, glad the word could pass as a sound of pleasure. "Do you have any... specific positions you life?" He huffed, and she nodded.

"Yeah. Put my legs over your shoulders." She answered after a few labored breaths and he nodded, adjusting accordingly. The effect was instant for her; while it was definitely an odd position to see, it was like the magic fuckin word for Rebecca.

At one point, Felix had to put his hand over her mouth to prevent them from being caught, considering it was against every regulation the army had in place to sleep with a fellow soldier.

But since when did regulation stop Isaac? Never. And it rarely stopped Becca.

It wasn't long before he was moaning, himself, and she smirked a little. The sweat on his body made him somewhat glow in the light of the lamp he had on in his room and he honestly looked handsome. She stopped that thought process nearly immediately though. She couldn't like this man. God, no.

"Beck... I'm gonna.." He whispered, barely able to speak. Either she was really, really good, or he was just really out of practice.

She didn't have time to answer him before he moaned, louder than the rest, a shudder going down his body. 

Rebecca was breathless herself- she hadn't cum, but goddamn, he wasn't joking about really anything. He knew his way around a girl.

He pulled out and rolled over to her side, taking the condom off and dropping it in the trash can. Feeling he wasn't the cuddle type, she sat up after a few moments, grabbing her bra and panties.

"What are you doing?" He asked lazily.

"Leaving? You don't really strike me as the cuddling kind of guy."

"Well, you aren't wrong."

She nodded a little in response and pulled her bra and panties on, then her bodysuit. She went over to the pile of armor and got hers out then left, leaving Isaac simultaneously happy and confused. He didn't like being around people, but he felt a slight pang of sadness when she left.


	8. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A little bit of a filler.

As the days went on, neither of the two talked about the time they shared in his bunk. It wasn't necessarily a taboo topic but it also wasn't necessarily one that needed to be spoken of.

After about 3 days had passed when finally, something good came of their conversations. She was packing up from another training session with the soldiers when Felix grabbed her bicep.

"You're coming on the mission." He said and her eyes lit up, turning to face him with her jaw dropped.

"I am?" She asked incredulously and he nodded. His helmet was on but it was a fair bet that he was grinning underneath it, considering she looked like a kid on Christmas morning and that was enough to make anyone grin, really.

"Fuck yes!" She cried and he laughed.

"So you should come meet the boys."

"You mean the Reds and Blues?"

Felix seemed annoyed now and nodded again. "Yes. Grif, Simmons, Tucker and Caboose." He didn't wait for her and started to walk away. She quickly secured her helmet and followed after him.

"Why the sudden change of heart, Is-"

"FELIX." He snapped, whipping around with anger radiating off of him. "I had the change of heart because you're a good damn soldier and we could use you in this fight."

"Use me?" She echoed, cocking her head.

"Yes, Rhode Island. Do you think that anything has changed between us since the beginning? Truly?" He laughed, the sound like nails on a chalkboard to her. "It was all a game. I got what I wanted from you, and now we can continue what we were doing without distraction; training the soldiers."

The words stung and Rebecca was glad her helmet was on, because she looked like a fish gasping for water. She was a little stupid for ever assuming this man could have any emotion aside from greed.

"You mean nothing to me. Now come on, you wanted to meet these idiots didn't you?" He turned back around and continued on his metaphorical war path, and she followed him silently. Of course he just wanted a quick fuck.

She could hear the Reds and Blues as she got closer. One who sounded not all there, one who sounded genuinely annoying, one who sounded like he was probably stuck in his middle school nerd phase, and one who she could just tell she would get along with.

She turned the corner and saw their armor. Maroon, orange, dark blue, and teal? Aquamarine? Greenish blue? Something like that.

"Hey!" Felix barked and they all immediately stopped talking, turning to face him. They didn't salute or do anything to show respect for him and she internally grinned. Good, he deserved it. "This is Agent Rhode Island."

"Another Freelancer?" The one in the blueish armor whined. "All these guys ever do for us is cause trouble, why should we let him come with?"

"I think I should come with because I know some of the people you have locked up on the other side of the planet." Rebecca snipped back, folding her arms over her chest. 'Some' was an overstatement. She knew one. Washington.

"Oh fuck, you're a chick? Well, in that case, hey girl. Name's Lavernius, but you can call me Tucker."

"Tucker, shut the fuck up." Felix warned, and Tucker seemed to visibly shrink. "Anyways, as you know now, Rhode Island, that's Tucker. The one in dark blue is Caboose. Orange is Grif, maroon is Simmons."

"It's nice to meet you all. My name is Rhode Island, but you may call me Rebecca." She was trying to keep her voice even, not betraying any emotion, coolly nice. What Felix had said on the way here really didn't feel all that great.

"Hello Rebecca, do you want to be my friend?" Caboose asked, and Rebecca paused. There was definitely a lack of brain cells here. Couldn't hurt though, right?

"Yeah, of course buddy."

"Oh cool! We can go on missions together and spy on Felix and make sandwiches and talk about what makes us happy and-"

"Yeah Caboose we get it. You made a friend. Shut the fuck up." Tucker said, talking quickly. Seemed to be his thing. "So you have a lady friend, huh Felix?" He made a docking motion with his hands and Rebecca swore she could hear Felix growl.

"Why is everything about my life your business, Lavernius?" Felix asked, his voice calm, but it was clear he was anything but. "If you must know about my relationship with Rhode Island here, I'll tell you. We train soldiers together. That's it. Nothing else. Got it?"

"So.... she's free game? Bow chicka bow wow."

"The way you objectify women is disgusting."

"As if you're any better." Rebecca mumbled under her breath, but Felix heard her.

"I'm sorry, repeat that?"

"As if you're any better," She repeated, this time louder.

"Wow, okay." He simply responded and she smirked. She got him in that one, considering his only rebuttal cold get him- well, both of them- in deep shit.

"Anyways, I'm very excited to work with you all." She said, her voice cheery, which apparently bothered him, as he stalked off.

"Wow lady. I've never seen anyone stand up to Felix." The maroon one- Simmons, was it?- said incredulously.

"Yeah, well, it's because he knows I'm right. He's a bit of a bad guy."

~~~~

After a few hours of talking with the Reds and Blues and discovering they weren't the great warriors she was told they were, she retired to her bunk. They had told her the story of how they got to where they were now, and she learned why they knew so much about Project Freelancer. Carolina was working with them too, as well as the Epsilon AI- the one that had ruined Washington. She hated that damn AI.

They were trying to collect all the AI so that Epsilon could become the Alpha. While she wasn't fond of parting with Zeta, she figured it couldn't be that bad if it meant this war could come to an end and she could just go home, wherever that may be. Earth, maybe? Who knew.


End file.
